Lonely Planet Travel Guides and Travel Information Tourism, ‘nationalism’ & current events Mythological beginnings We can’t pinpoint the date of the discovery of the islands now known as the Canaries, but we can say with certainty that they were known, or at least postulated about, in ancient times. In his dialogues Timaeus and Critias, Plato (428–348 BC) spoke of Atlantis, a continent sunk deep into the ocean floor in a great cataclysm that left only the peaks of its highest mountains above the water. Whether Plato believed in the lost continent’s existence or had more allegorical intentions remains a matter of conjecture. In the centuries since Plato’s death, those convinced of the existence of Atlantis have maintained that Macronesia (the Canary Islands, the Azores, Cape Verde and Madeira) constitutes the visible remains of the lost continent. Legend also has it that one of the 12 labours of Hercules was to go to the end of the world and bring back golden apples guarded by the Hesperides (daughters of evening), offspring of Hesperis and Atlas, the latter a Titan in Greek and Roman mythology who gave his name to the Atlantic Ocean and the Atlas mountain ranges in Morocco .

Hercules supposedly had to go beyond the Pillars of Hercules (the modern Strait of Gibraltar ) to reach the paradisiacal home of these maidens. Hercules carried out his task and returned from what many later thought could only have been the Canary Islands – about the only place to fit the ancients’ description. Classical writer Homer identified the islands as Elysium, a place where the righteous spent their afterlife. For all their storytelling, there is no concrete evidence that either the Phoenicians or Greeks ever landed on the Canaries. It is entirely possible, however, that early reconnaissance of the North African Atlantic coast by the Phoenicians and their successors, the Carthaginians, took at least a peek at the easternmost islands of the archipelago. Some historians believe a Phoenician expedition landed on the islands in the 12th century BC, and that the Carthaginian Hanno turned up there in 470 BC. The expanding Roman Empire defeated Carthage in the Third Punic War in 146 BC, but the Romans appear not to have been overly keen to investigate the fabled islands, which they knew as the Insulae Fortunatae (Fortunate Isles).

A century-and-a-half later, shortly after the birth of Christ, the Romans received vaguely reliable reports on them, penned by Pliny the Elder (AD 23–79) and based upon accounts of an expedition carried out around 40 BC by Juba II, a client king in Roman North Africa. In AD 150, Ptolemy fairly accurately located the islands’ position with a little dead reckoning, tracing an imaginary meridian line marking the end of the known world through El Hierro . ^ Back to top The islands’ original inhabitants The origin of the islands’ first inhabitants has long been a source of mystery, with theories being volleyed about for decades but none accepted as definitive. Everyone agrees that the Canary Islands had no indigenous population and that they’ve been inhabited since before the birth of Christ. So the people living here had to come from somewhere. But the question was, where? The Spanish conquistadors’ tales of Tinerfeños being tall, blonde and blue-eyed fostered many convoluted theories about how Celtic immigrants from mainland Iberia, possibly even related to the Basques, somehow made their way to the island.

More fancifully, some saw a drop of Nordic blood in them – did Norse raiding parties land here in the 8th or 9th centuries? Recently, however, historians using archaeological, cultural and linguistic studies have thrown out these theories in favour of a simpler, if more boring, one. Spotting similarities between the dwellings, burial practices and rock carvings of the various ancient tribes living in the Canaries and the Libyan-Berber peoples of North Africa, they’ve concluded that the original inhabitants of the islands came from the Maghrib, the area spanning from present-day Tunisia to Morocco . Place names and the handful of words from the Canary Islands’ languages (or dialects) that have come down to us bear a striking resemblance to Berber tribal languages. Also, the occasional case of blue eyes and blondish hair occurs among the Berbers too. Studies from the University of La Laguna in Tenerife have proposed that as the Romans conquered northern Africa from the 1st century BC to the 1st century AD they exiled some people groups to the Canaries. This would explain why the tribes had no knowledge of seafaring; they were inland peoples.

If the Romans exiled them soon after arriving in the territory, the people would have had no opportunity to learn Latin script or Roman building techniques. And if the Romans never visited the islands again it was perhaps because they saw no reward worthy of such a long, difficult journey. Carbon dating of the sparse archaeological finds has pushed back the known date of the earliest settlement to around 200 BC, although earlier occupation is conceivable. For a long time, learned observers maintained that the islands were first inhabited by Cro-Magnon man, the Neolithic predecessor of modern Homo sapiens. Such conclusions have emerged from the comparison of ancient skulls of indigenous inhabitants with Cro-Magnon remains discovered around the Mediterranean. Historians wrinkle their noses at the idea now, but if the theory were proved true (which seems unlikely) it would throw the doors of speculation wide open, since Cro-Magnon man came onto the scene as long as 40,000 years ago. Exactly when, and in what number, people occupied the islands remains a mystery. What seems clear, however, is that they came from several north African tribes. One of them may have been the Canarii tribe, which could explain the islands’ present name.

Certainly, by the time European swashbucklers started nosing around the islands in the Middle Ages, they were peopled by a variety of tribes. ^ Back to top First encounters Virtually no written record remains of visits to the Fortunate Isles until the 14th century. The first vaguely tenable account of a European landing comes in the late 13th or early 14th century when the Genoese captain Lanzarotto (or Lancelotto) Malocello bumped into the island that would later bear his name: Lanzarote . From then on, slavers, dreamers searching for the Río de Oro (the River of Gold route for the legendary African gold trade, which many thought spilled into the Atlantic at about the same latitude as the islands) and missionaries bent on spreading the Word all made excursions to the islands. Of these missions, the most important and influential was the Italian-led and Portuguese-backed expedition of 1341. Three caravels (two- or three-masted sailing ships) charted a course around all seven islands and took note of even the tiniest islets: the Canary Islands were finally, and more or less accurately, on the map.

^ Back to top The conquest begins On 1 May 1402, Jean de Béthencourt, lord of Granville in Normandy ( France ) and something of an adventurer, set out from La Rochelle with a small and ill-equipped party bound for the Canary Islands. The avowed aim, as the priests brought along for the ride would testify, was to convert the heathen islanders. Uppermost in de Béthencourt’s mind was more likely the hope of glory and a fast franc. With his partner, Gadifer de la Salle, he may have hoped to use the Canaries as a launch pad for exploration of the African coast in search of the Río de Oro. That project never got off the ground, and the buccaneers decided to take over the islands instead. So commenced a lengthy and inglorious chapter of invasion, treachery and bungling. Many Guanches would lose their lives or be sold into slavery in the coming century, with the remainder destined to be swallowed up by the invading society. De Béthencourt’s motley crew landed first in Lanzarote , at that stage governed by Mencey Guardafía.

There was no resistance and de Béthencourt went on to establish a fort on Fuerteventura . That was as far as he got. Having run out of supplies, and with too few men for the enterprise, he headed for Spain , where he aimed to obtain the backing of the Castilian crown. What had started as a private French enterprise now became a Spanish imperialist adventure. De Béthencourt returned in 1404 with ships, men and money. Fuerteventura , El Hierro and La Gomera quickly fell under his control. Appointed lord of the four islands by the Spanish king, Enrique III, de Béthencourt encouraged the settlement of farmers from his Norman homeland and began to pull in the profits. In 1406 he returned for good to Normandy , leaving his nephew Maciot in charge of his Atlantic possessions. ^ Back to top Squabbles & stagnation What followed was scarcely one of the world’s grandest colonial under­takings. Characterised by continued squabbling and occasional revolt among the colonists, the European presence did nothing for the increasingly oppressed islanders in the years following de Béthencourt’s departure.

The islanders were heavily taxed and many were sold into slavery; Maciot also recruited them for abortive raids on the remaining three independent islands. He then capped it all off by selling to Portugal his rights – inherited from his uncle – to the four islands. This move prompted a tiff with Spain , which was eventually awarded rights to the islands by Pope Eugene V. Low-key rivalry continued for years, with Portugal only recognising Spanish control of the Canaries in 1479 under the Treaty of Alcáçovas. In return, Spain agreed that Portugal could have the Azores, Cape Verde and Madeira. Maciot died in self-imposed exile in Madeira in 1452. A string of minor Spanish nobles proceeded to run the show, all eager to sell their rights to the islands almost as soon as they had acquired them. Numerous commanders undertook the business of attacking the other islands with extraordinarily little success. Guillén Peraza died in an attempt to assault La Palma in 1443.

In 1464 Peraza’s brother-in-law Diego de Herrera, the appointed lord of La Gomera , attempted a landing on Gran Canaria and another landing near present-day Santa Cruz de Tenerife . By 1466 he had managed to sign a trade treaty with the Canarios, and won permission to build a defensive turret in Gando Bay. ^ Back to top The fall of gran canaria In 1478 a new commander arrived with fresh forces (including, for the first time, a small cavalry unit) and orders from the Catholic Monarchs of Spain , Fernando and Isabel, to finish the Canaries campaign once and for all. Juan Rejón landed and dug in at the site of modern Las Palmas de Gran Canaria . He was immediately attacked by a force of 2000 men under Doramas, guanarteme (island chief) of the island’s Telde kingdom. Rejón carried the day but fell victim to internal intrigue by making an enemy of the spiritual head of the conquered territories, Canon Juan Bermúdez, accusing him of incompetence.

The investigator sent from Spain , Pedro de Algaba, sided with Bermúdez and had Rejón transported to the mainland in chains. But, once there, Rejón convinced the Spanish authorities that he’d been unjustly treated and was given carte blanche to return to the Canaries to re-establish his control. One of his first acts was to have Algaba, his erstwhile accuser, arrested and executed. However, this act of vengeance proved his final undoing, as Queen Isabel believed the punishment unwarranted and had Rejón replaced by Pedro de Vera. De Vera continued the campaign and had the good fortune to capture the island’s other guanarteme, Tenesor Semidan (known as Don Fernando Guanarteme after his baptism), in an attack on Gáldar by sea. Tenesor Semidan was sent to Spain , converted to Christianity and returned in 1483 to convince his countrymen to give up the fight. This they did and de Vera subsequently suggested that some might like to sign up for an assault on Tenerife .

Duly embarked, de Vera committed the umpteenth act of treachery that had marked the long years of conquest: he packed them off to be sold as slaves in Spain . But the Canarios learnt of this and forced the ships transporting them to dock at Lanzarote . After the frightful suppression of a revolt on La Gomera in 1488, de Vera was relieved of his post as captain-general of the conquest. ^ Back to top The final campaigns De Vera’s successor was Galician Alonso Fernández de Lugo, who in 1491 received a royal commission to conquer La Palma and Tenerife . He began in La Palma in November and by May of the following year had the island under control. This he achieved partly by negotiation, though the last mencey (Guanche king) of La Palma , Tanausú, and his men maintained resistance in the virtually impregnable crater of the Caldera de Taburiente. Only by enticing him out for talks on 3 May and then ambushing him could de Lugo defeat his last adversary on the island. For La Palma , the war was over. Tenerife provided the toughest resistance to the Spaniards.

In May 1493 de Lugo landed on Tenerife , together with 1000 infantry soldiers and a cavalry of 150, among them Guanches from Gran Canaria and La Gomera . In the ensuing months the Spaniards fortified their positions and attempted talks with several of the nine menceys, managing to win over those of Güímar and Anaga. Bencomo, mencey of Tahoro and sworn enemy of the invaders, was sure of the support of at least three other menceys, while the remaining three wavered. In the spring of the following year, de Lugo sent a column westwards. This proved a disaster. Bencomo was waiting in ambush in the Barranco de Acentejo ravine. The Spanish force was decimated at a place now called La Matanza de Acentejo (Slaughter of Acentejo). De Lugo then thought better of the whole operation and left Tenerife . By the end of the year he was back to engage in the second major battle of the campaign – at La Laguna on 14 November 1494.

Here he had greater success, but the Guanches were far from defeated and de Lugo fell back to Santa Cruz. At the beginning of the New Year a plague known as the modorra began to ravage the island. It hardly seemed to affect the Spaniards but soon took a serious toll on the Guanches. On 25 December 1494, 5000 Guanches under Bencomo were routed in the second battle of the Acentejo. The spot, only a few kilometres south of La Matanza, is still called La Victoria (Victory) today. By the following July, when de Lugo marched into the Valle de la Orotava to confront Bencomo’s successor, Bentor, the diseased and demoralised Guanches were in no state to resist. Bentor surrendered and the conquest was complete. Pockets of resistance took two years to mop up, and Bentor eventually committed suicide. Four years after the fall of Granada and the reunification of Christian Spain , the Catholic monarchs could now celebrate one of the country’s first imperial exploits – the subjugation in only 94 years of a small Atlantic archipelago defended by Neolithic tribes.

Even so, the Spaniards had some difficulty in fully controlling the Guanches. Many refused to settle in the towns established by the colonists, preferring to live their traditional lives out of reach of the authorities. Nevertheless, the Guanches were destined to disappear. Although open hostilities had ceased, the conquistadors continued shipping them as slaves to Spain . Remaining Guanches were converted en masse to Christianity, taking on Christian names and the surnames of their new Spanish godfathers. Some of the slaves would be freed and permitted to return to the islands. Although the bulk of them were dispossessed of their land, they soon began to assimilate with the colonisers. Within a century, their language had all but disappeared: except for a handful of words, all that comes down to us today are the islands’ many Guanche place names. ^ Back to top Economic & foreign challenges From the early 16th century, Gran Canaria and Tenerife in particular attracted a steady stream of settlers from Spain , Portugal , France , Italy and even Britain. Each island had its own local authority, or cabildo insular, although increasingly they were overshadowed by the Royal Court of Appeal, established in Las Palmas in 1526.

Sugar cane had been introduced from the Portuguese island of Madeira, and soon sugar became the Canaries’ main export. The ‘discovery’ of the New World in 1492 by Christopher Columbus, who called in to the archipelago several times en route to the Americas, proved a mixed blessing. It brought much passing transatlantic trade but also led to sugar production being diverted to the Americas, where the cane could be grown and processed more cheaply. The local economy was rescued only by the growing export demand for wine, produced mainly in Tenerife . Vino seco (dry wine), which Shakespeare called Canary Sack, was much appreciated in Britain. Poorer islands, especially Lanzarote and Fuerteventura , remained backwaters, their impoverished inhabitants making a living from smuggling and piracy off the Moroccan coast – the latter activity part of a tit-for-tat game played out with the Moroccans for centuries. Spain ’s control of the islands did not go completely unchallenged. The most spectacular success went to Admiral Robert Blake, one of Oliver Cromwell’s three ‘generals at sea’.

In 1657, a year after war had broken out between England and Spain , Blake annihilated a Spanish treasure fleet (at the cost of only one ship) at Santa Cruz de Tenerife . British harassment culminated in 1797 with Admiral Horatio Nelson’s attack on Santa Cruz. Sent there to intercept yet another treasure shipment, he not only failed to storm the town but lost his right arm in the fighting. ^ Back to top Island rivalries Within the Canary Islands, a bitter feud developed between Gran Canaria and Tenerife over supremacy of the archipelago. The fortunes of the two rested largely with their economic fate. When the Canaries were declared a province of Spain in 1821, Santa Cruz de Tenerife was made the capital. Bickering between the two main islands remained heated and Las Palmas frequently demanded that the province be split in two. The idea was briefly but unsuccessfully put into practice in the 1840s. ^ Back to top Franco’s spain In the 1930s, as the left and the right in mainland Spain became increasingly militant, fears of a coup grew.

In March 1936 the government decided to ‘transfer’ General Franco, a veteran of Spain ’s wars in Morocco and beloved of the tough Spanish Foreign Legion, to the Canary Islands. Suspicions that he was involved in a plot to overthrow the government were well-founded; when the pro-coup garrisons of Melilla (Spanish North Africa) rose prematurely on 17 July, Franco was ready. Having seized control of the islands virtually without a struggle (the pro-Republican commander of the Las Palmas garrison died in mysterious circumstances on 14 July), Franco flew to Morocco on 19 July. Although there was virtually no fighting on the islands, the Nationalists wasted no time in rounding up anyone vaguely suspected of harbouring Republican sympathies. The postwar economic misery of mainland Spain was shared by the islands, and again many Canarios opted to emigrate. In the 1950s the situation was so desperate that 16,000 migrated clandestinely, mainly to Venezuela , even though by then that country had closed its doors to further immigration. One-third of those who attempted to flee perished in the ocean crossings.

^ Back to top Tourism, ‘nationalism’ & current events When Franco decided to open up Spain ’s doors to northern European tourists the Canaries benefited as much as the mainland. Millions of holidaymakers now pour into the islands year-round. Always a fringe phenomenon, Canaries nationalism started to resurface in opposition to Franco. MPAIC (Movimiento para la Autodeterminación e Independencia del Archipiélago Canario), founded in 1963 by Antonio Cubillo to promote secession from Spain , embarked on a terrorist campaign in the late 1970s. Dodging Spanish authorities, Cubillo fled to Algeria in the 1960s, but in 1985 he was allowed to return to Spain . In 1978 a new constitution was passed in Madrid with devolution as one of its central pillars. Thus the Canary Islands became a comunidad autónoma (autonomous region) in August 1982, yet they remained divided into two provinces. The main force in Canary Islands politics since its first regional election victory in 1995 has been the Coalición Canaria (CC).

Although not bent on independence from Spain (which would be unlikely), the CC nevertheless puts the interests of the islands before national considerations. Fringe groups, however, do push for independence, and while those supporting independence are in the minority, they are gaining strength. Immigration from Africa and other parts of the world has changed the Canaries’ population landscape drastically over the past decade and has forced the islands to reassess their relationship with the continent. Over the past 10 years the islands have made cooperation with Africa a major priority, investing around €17 million in education, health and infrastructure in Africa , especially in transport and communication links with the continent. The past few years have also seen a struggle between intense development and concerted efforts to preserve the islands’ natural resources and beauty. Political groups, islanders and ecologists are in constant discussions about the best way to combine the archipelago’s dependence on tourism, and the perceived need for more hotels, ports and golf courses, with the pressing need to conserve water resources, combat marine pollution and prevent development from infringing on the flora and fauna that have made the islands a nature lover’s paradise.

8 Things You Might Not Have Known About the Canary Islands 8 Things You Might Not Have Known About the Canary Islands Posted: July 16, 2011 Categories: 8 Things , Spain 1.7k Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Google Pinterest Stumbleupon After driving around the Pyreneese Mountains for a week I’ve changed scenery and have gone to the Canary Islands. I’ve been on the island of Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, La Graciosa and Tenerife and will be on La Gomera and La Palma next week. So far it has been great with amazing weather. I realize that many people have no clue where they Canary Islands are or much about them, so I figured it was time for another installment of “8 Things You Might Not Have Known…” 1) They were not named after canary birds. Despite the name, the islands were not named after canaries, the cute, chirping birds. It comes from the latin word for dog, “canaria”. One story is that when some of the first Europeans arrived, they found large dogs on the island of Grand Canary.

In fact, they might not even even named after dogs at all, but rather after seals which used to inhabit the island, which the Romans called “sea dogs”. 2) It has the highest point in Spain. Despite having the Pyreneese mountains in its country, the highest point in Spain is actually on the island of Tenerife. El Teide is 3,718m (12,198ft) high. There are other tall peaks in the Canaries as well including Roque de los Muchachos on the island of La Palma 2,400 m (7,874 ft). This mountain is of note because it is home to one of the largest collection of astronomical telescopes in the world, including the world’s largest telescope, the 10.4m Gran Telescopio Canarias . It’s high volcanic mountains which sit above the clouds makes it similar to the observing conditions you can find in Mona Kea in Hawaii. 3) The Spanish Civil War started here. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, Francisco Franco was the General Commandant of the Canaries, headquartered in Las Palmas, on Grand Canary island.

He and his minions plotted their strategy here in the Canaries, out of sight and mind of the rest of Spain, before moving to the continent. Cooking over a volcano 4) You can cook food over a volcano. As I mentioned above, the Canary Islands are volcanic in origin. While there are no volcanoes currently erupting on the island, there was a great deal of activity on the island of Lanzarote between 1730 and 1736 when over 100 volcanoes appeared on the landscape. The last eruption was in 1824, but there is still a significant amount of heat just below the surface. If you enter Timanfaya National Park, you can visit El Diablo Restaurante where they have several demonstrations which show the heat just below the surface. In one demonstration they toss straw into a hole which bursts into flame due to the heat. In another they pour water down a whole which instantly turns into a tower of steam. At the restaurant, there is a 9m hole was which was dug to access the heat, the top of which is used as a grill. The temperature of the grill reaches 400C and uses no energy.

5) The islands were colonized concurrently with the Americas. While the Canary Islands were known to the ancient Romans and Greeks, they never really grabbed the attention of Europeans until they began to sail across the Atlantic to the Americas. Columbus used the island of La Gomera as a staging point for his first trip to the Americas. Most of the older buildings you can find in the islands, especially in the city of La Laguna are very colonial in style. Unlike the Americas, however, the Canary Islands were not a colony but an actual part of Spain which they remain to this day. 6) The city of San Antonio, Texas was founded by people from the Canary Islands If you remember the Alamo, then you should also take a second to remember the Canary Islands. The city was original founded by settlers from the Canaries and their descendants died fighting alongside Jim Bowie and Davy Crocket. The founder of the city of São Paulo, Brazil is also from the island of Tenerife. 7) It his home to a whistling language On the island of La Gomera there is a language used to communicate over the large distances across valleys called “ Silbo Gomero “.

As technology changed the ease in which people could communicate, the language was in danger of dying out in the 20th Century. The government took measures to teach the language to children in school. The whistling is actually just a form of Spanish. The language is more used for announcements and news, not for personal conversation. It was listed as a “Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity” by UNESCO in 2009. 8) World worst airline disaster The world’s worst aviation accident occurred on the island of Tenerife on March 27, 1977 when two Boeing 747’s collided on a foggy airport runway. 583 people were killed when KLM Flight 4805 hit Pan Am Flight 1736 during take off. Neither plane was supposed to be on Tenerife as they were diverted from Gran Canarias when a bomb was detonated on the runway. The airport had many more aircraft than it could handle and couldn’t fit all the planes at the gates.

An investigation after the event by Spanish, Dutch and American teams concluded that there were a host of problems which lead to the disaster including language, not knowing where the planes were, casual terminology and pilot error. The accident lead to a host of changes in how plane crews and flight control towers talk to each other to avoid misunderstanding. Get My FREE 100 Page Travel Photography eBook! 28 Responses to "8 Things You Might Not Have Known About the Canary Islands" By Mia August 17, 2014 - 7:03 pm There not ‘African Canary Islands’ . And to gain a VISA you must go through the Spanish Consulate so YES they are 100% apart of Spain. And No, No one in Australia has heard of them, I am constantly explaining about them to people. Reply By Arnab January 11, 2012 - 7:06 am Cooking food over a volcano is one of the craziest thing I have heard in my lifetime! Drilling and putting a pipe into its surface can become really risky at times I suppose.Anyways this is a fabulous post!

By Dr Vicente Barreto January 5, 2012 - 5:26 pm The truth about my country, the African Canary Islands. 1.- Yes, they were not named after birds or dogs. The people of the Canary Islands came from Berber tribes in North Africa. One of these Beber tribes was called “Canarii” and therefore the name of my country is “Islas Canarias” (Canary Islands). In short, the name has to do with one of the Beber tribes and not dogs, cats or birds. 2.- It does not have the “highest point in Spain”. Mount Teide, in the island of Tenerife (Africa), is 1,400 kilometres from Spain (Europe). In short, we are talking about different realities: one country is in Africa and the other in another continent (Europe). It is like the French saying that their highest mountain is in Algeria. Well, my friends, Algeria is closer to France than the African Canary Islands to Spain. The Canary Islands is a COLONY of Spain in Africa and we, the Canary Islands, want the Spaniards out of our country.

3.- The African Canary Islands were invaved by Spain before the Americas and later they used the Canary Islands as a stopover in order to bring death and terror to the Americas. The Canary Islanders war with Spain lasted nearly 100 years and after the Spaniards “discovered” the Americas, needing our Islands to provide food, water, etc., for their ships, they signed agreements with our people saying that they would respect our lands, people, etc. Of course, since they were pirates, they did not respect the agreements signed with us. 4.- Yes, the City of San Antonio and other places in the Americas were founded by Canary islanders. The “troblemakers”, those Canary Island patriots that resisted the Spanish pirates in our islands were rounded and transported to the Americas. Something similar with the English transporting children, young girls, etc., to Australia to help their cause in Australia. 5.- Yes, dictator Franco, “by the Grace of God”, was in exile in the African Canary Islands. Spain always used its colony of the Canary Islands to transport its own troublemakers far away from Spain and so Franco, Unamuno, etc., spent time in the Canary Islands.

One day, during Franco’s period of exile in the African Canary Islands, a small plane piloted by an English guy lands here and takes fascist Franco out of the Canary Islands and on his journey back to Spain to create trouble. I don’t know why the English seem to be always in the picture. If the inglés (English) had not landed in the Canary Islands, he would have saved Spain from Hitler’s litter brother (Franco). Finally, boys and girls, Madrid says that the Canary islands is “Spain”. etc. Well, France also used to say that “Algeria is France”. As for those who say that the Canary Islanders “love” Spain, are “Spanish”, etc., they are Spaniards living in the Canary Islands as part of the colonial administration. Spain has caused too much pain, misery, poverty, crimes, rapes, death, etc., against our people -the Canary Islanders- for us to love them. Will the Canary Islands be free of Spain one day? Well, if nothing in this life is permanent then I believe that one day the Spaniards will have to leave the Canary Islands. After all, the Spaniards love Spain too much and claim to be europeans, etc., and our islands are not in Europe.

It would be much better for them to live in their beloved Europe and leave the Canary Islanders in peace. Their enemy is: geography and time. Finally, our islands receive 12 million tourists every year but our people leave in poverty, the unemployment rate is 30% and for our youth 60%. Why? Because Spain controls our economy and steals the billions generated by the so-called “tourist industry”. The best jobs are occupied by people from Spain. If this is not bad enough, the flora and fauna of the Canary Islands is suffering because our islands have too many people (residents + tourists). Many thanks for reading this. Dr Vicente Barreto Reply By Luis August 30, 2015 - 5:31 am Not because of the constant, repetitive and histrionic repetition of African, the Canary Islands are European, located near Africa. History has shades and lights, the fact of the matter is that we are Europe and thanks to our location we have a unique weather and nature. I respect your opinion, and Who knows why, but I disagree completelely with your opinion.

Gracias Reply By Bec June 23, 2016 - 6:06 pm Dear Dr Berber – My son is doing a short music presentation at school in Australia on the Canarias and was asked to identify an African instrument used in the Canarias. He has searched the internet with my assistance (he is 12) but we mainly found information on the Timple (which sounds more Spanish?)- and little reference to any African instruments or songs, etc. Are you able to point us in the right direction? With thanks – Bec Reply By Antonio Pulido July 22, 2011 - 5:22 am There is a mistake in the post. General Franco had his headquarter in Tenerife, not in Gran Canaria, next to “Plaza Weyler” in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Tenerife is the capital of the militar zone in Canary. On the other hand, the Civil War did not start in Canary Island, it started in North Africa at the city of Melilla . One day later Franco left Tenerife by plane to Africa to command the army in Africa (the plane was called “Dragon Rapide”). He was not the leader of the rebellion.

The leader was General Mola. By Matthew Karsten July 19, 2011 - 2:15 pm I love these posts. You always find some pretty strange facts. By MiguelGuerra July 19, 2011 - 7:06 am Very good article but just a correction: La Palma is 2,426 meters high. Greetings! Reply By Costan Alex July 19, 2011 - 3:42 am ooo….you can cook on a vulcano , very interesting ideea … i never heard about something like that … Canary Islands seems to be a good choice for my next travel . Very interesting article ! Thanks for infos … Reply By Liz July 19, 2011 - 12:47 am Wow! Volcano bbq. How green! I would be afraid of it erupting while I waited for the food though. By ciki July 18, 2011 - 1:45 am named after dogs and not birds.. how interesting. SCARY no.8 tho!!!

Reply By Guanche July 17, 2011 - 9:30 pm That they were not a colony but a part of Spain is debatable. The Organization of African Unity (OAU), former African Union, already said at 1970 that Canary Islands were an African territory waiting to be decolonized. By Gary July 18, 2011 - 12:57 am I’m not sure why a 41 year old proclamation from an outside group matters. 1) They are a part of Spain. it is recognized as such by the international community. They are a province of the country and have representation in the Spanish parlament. 2) No other country claims the Canary Islands. 3) There are no movements for independence. 4) There are no native groups. What people were here have been mixed into the general population who mostly came from Spain. 5) They are not had have never been listed on the United Nations list of non-selfgoverning countries. By Pablo July 19, 2011 - 5:37 am The Canary Islands are part of Spain and 99% of the Canaries Spanish feel By Nancy & Shawn Power...

Inspiring YOU to Travel! July 17, 2011 - 7:10 pm Great post Gary… excellent info! Cooking over a volcano & a whistling language… very cool things. :-) When visiting there… how many of the islands would you recommend visiting… is there just one or 2 main ones to go to or like somewhere like say Hawaii is there 5 or 6 nice ones to check out? N & S By Andi of My Beautiful Adventures July 16, 2011 - 11:35 am Wow, I was thinking these islands so cool and then I read #8. YIKES!!! How horrible! But well, I still want to go. Maybe I’ll take a boat. ;-) Reply By Linda July 17, 2011 - 6:31 am It was a long time ago, Andi, and thereafter they built a new airport, which is now the main one. Once that was open they installed all state of the art stuff and completely remodelled.

For a while it was used only for cargo and inter-island traffic, but the majority of international flights now come into the southern airport (I should know I live almost at the end of the runway!). So don’t be put off!!! By Benjmin July 16, 2011 - 11:06 am I have eaten from that BBQ many times. The salty potatoes being my favourite. By Nomadic Samuel July 16, 2011 - 9:26 am Some fascinating tidbits but the part I enjoyed the most was the volcanic bbq. By Arti July 16, 2011 - 9:25 am Wow! Cooking food over volcano!! Never heard of that!! Great post. Loved reading it… Have a fabulous weekend:) Reply By Todd Michael July 16, 2011 - 6:45 am The 9th thing would have to be the Observatory, Roque de los Muchachos, in La Palma. Statistically it´s second only to the one in Hawaii for optical and infrared astronomy in the Northern Hemisphere. Also it current holds the record for largest single-aperture optical telescope.

I know that on La Palma as well as Lanzarote the government has put in place so laws that protect though regions for light polution, making them wonder sites for star gazing! By Linda July 16, 2011 - 4:12 am Normal summer weather here, Gary! Sorry, couldn’t resist that. Nice to read something factual and accurate. Since the main islands of the archipelago are “hot” tourist destinations for Europeans thousands of words are written annually, and many of those are inaccurate. I took a small poll recently of people from New Zealand to mainland Spain, and it turned out that around 75% didn’t know where the islands are until recent months, and I’ve actually spoken with British tourists who thought that they were in the Med! That video is the best I’ve seen. By Jack July 16, 2011 - 3:31 am “I realize that many people have no clue where they Canary Islands are or much about them…” Presumably you’re talking about from your part of the world Gary. The Canary Islands are one of the most popular European holiday destinations and are visited by millions of people every year.

By Gary July 16, 2011 - 3:39 am The world is much bigger than Europe :) Tourism here seems to be from a few select places in Europe: Spain, UK, Germany being the biggest ones. I’ve also seen some Russians and Swedes. Once you get beyond those and maybe a few other countries, I’d say most of Europe is probably just as clueless as is Australia, Asia, etc. The same can be said for many other popular tourist destinations in the Caribbean or the Pacific. Many Australians visit Vanuatu, but I doubt if most people know much about Vanuatu. By Jack July 16, 2011 - 4:10 am LOL – Yes it certainly is:) Vanuatu and the Canary Islands – that’s an original comparison for sure. Reply By Gary July 16, 2011 - 4:29 am When you’ve been to as many places as I have, you see comparisons and similarities that most people probably wouldn’t realize. I noticed some similarities between Lanzarote and Aruba for example.

Reply By Linda July 16, 2011 - 4:18 am The thing is that you didn’t go to the main “tourist” places. The majority of people come for the sunshine, beaches and bars, which may not be your kind of travel, but whatever turns them on. They simply come, soak up the sun and leave, and never see the things you have seen, or which Jack and I write about. I walked along a tourist beach this week (a novelty for me!) and apart from the nationalities you mention I heard French, Italian and other Skandinavian languages I couldn’t name. The Russian market is big business here these days, but most stick to organized groups and excursions, and they are one of the few groups of visitors with money to spend. Reply By MiguelGuerra July 19, 2011 - 7:10 am But the most of the tourists that come to the Canary Islands usually don’t want to learn something about them: just stay at the hotel and have a swim…

Question: What is the modern name of the island group which were known to the ancient Romans as 'The Fortune Islands'?
Answer: THE CANARY ISLANDS